verdict against violators of the Consumer Protection Law

02/07/2018

The Primary Court in Nizwa, pronounced verdicts against two individuals accused of violating the Consumer Protection Law, the verdicts included jailtime and fines.

The 1st verdict: The Consumer Protection Department in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate received a report by a consumer, against a commercial establishment that sells and repairs tires, the report indicated that the establishment was selling expired tires.
The law enforcement officers from the department, took action immediately by visiting the establishment to verify the report. After the report has been verified, the tires have been seized, and the case file was finalized then sent to The Public Prosecution in Nizwa.
The Public Prosecution investigated the case, and referred the case file to the Primary Court which convicted the first, and the second accused for offering spoiled goods for sale, with 3 months jailtime suspended, and a fine of OMR 2,000 each for the public right and combining the two penalties. The first accused was obligated to to pay a fine of OMR 500, and the second accused was to pay OMR 1,000. While the third accused was convicted for working to an employer other than the employer who recruited him, in one-month jailtime and OMR 400 for the public right.
The legal fees were to be paid equally by the accused individuals, and the spoiled commodity was to be seized. The first accused appealed the ruling, and the court of appeal accepted the appeal in form and rejected it in subject, and supported the appealed, ruling as well as, obligating the appellee to pay the fees.
The second verdict: the department recieved a complaint lodged by a consumer indicating that he bought a car from a dealer, and he noticed that there was a noise from the tires while turning and driving. This occurred during the warranty period, hence, the consumer went back to the dealer, and notified the employees in-charge regarding the problem in his car.
The dealer instructed the consumer to go to the warrantor company which stalled the consumer in replacing the tires. For that reason, the consumer lodged his complaint to the department. The department took the required procedures and referred the case to The Public Prosecution which conducted an investigation then, forwarded the case file to the Primary Court in Nizwa. The court ruled against the accused for refusing to replace a faulty commodity, in a suspended jailtime of 6 months, a fine of OMR 2,000 for the public right, OMR 500 of which to be paid and suspending the remainder. In the civil case the court obligated the accused to replace the vehicle tires, and rejected the rest of the civil claim, and further for the accused to pay an amount of OMR 120 in fees for the expert, and to pay the legal fees.
PACP advises all traders and providers to abide by the Consumer Protection Law, and its Executive Bylaws, in order to avoid legal liability, and further to have transparency, credibility and avoid false, and misleading advertising in the promotion of commodities and services.

No one imagined that greed and deviousness would reach such a staggering level that thought exist only in movies and investigative drama shows , yet it became a stark reality when some merchants sought to make a profit on the account of health and safety of the young and adults alike utilizing the God-given intellect that they posses into destruction and evil instead of serving public good , the devious plan used ( Back to school ) season by carving holes inside books and hiding chewing tobacco inside in away from the inspectors notice targeting the younger generation with these destructive materials that effect the health , mind and safety of our kids .

The Judicial officers noticed that consumers come very frequently to a specific shop during one of the inspection tours which raised their suspicions to strengthening the monitoring and follow up on that matter , students were spotted in the shop as well , the Officers expediently intervened to inspect the shop , the inspection did not reveal anything at first , however , the officers noticed a stack of books and decided to inspect it , surprisingly , they found more than 600 pouches of chewing tobacco on its way to be sold and distributed on consumers and students , the officers immediately issued a violation and referred the case to the General Prosecution to deal with the matter as per the Law